The present invention relates to a cryogenic gyroscope, that is a device for detecting the angular velocity of rotation of a rigid system without reference to an external inertial system, which makes use of the properties of superconducting materials, that is, materials whose electrical resistence becomes zero at relatively low thermodynamic temperatures, of the order of a few degrees Kelvin, or even higher (in the case of more recently developed superconducting materials), of the order of 100.degree. K. The future development of materials which are superconducting at ambient temperature is also envisaged.